Who pays the contractor, subs, and suppliers?

I will see if I can get a guarantee from my suppliers and vendors that they will be able to cut me some slack in the coming year and charge me less for their services, and that goes for supplies/materials as well." 

They seldom steer you wrong so build your network through their referrals.Another way to save money is to begin getting familiar with local suppliers of all types of construction materials.

You'll likely need a list of all materials paid for, a release of lien may be required by suppliers.

As for my first round I was fortunate enough to land a pretty good j.o.b. in the auto industry working for a wheel supplier early in my Real Estate carrier.

I graduated from Michigan State University, and currently work at an automotive supplier within their purchasing department.I am primarily looking to share/learn from others, network with investors, develop relations for financing deals, and ultimately scale my business to a global level! 

Walmart knows more about the costs that go into a product than the actual manufacturer and will squeeze out as much profit from the supplier as they can to get the costs down.

That said, I've gotten and given referrals for my rock-star contractors, I want them to stay in business, and to remember me when I call them for help, so just asking other landlords and rehabbers for referrals works pretty well, as does asking for help in finding sources for materials for the same reason - the niche suppliers like the molding store I buy from don't make much money off me, and they're about a third the cost of the depot, so I pass their numbers out at every opportunity to keep them alive.

I felt he was trying to up-sell me with other options, and also told me that the material prices would be going up in a few weeks because their contracts with their building suppliers were changing (although I don't remember his exact wording anymore).

I’d look up chemical/soap suppliers in the area, especially if you can figure out who the supplier is for those car washes.